Flushing mechanism for toilet tanks



Feb. 13, 1940. J. L. MASON ET- AL 2,190,160 v FLUSHING MECHANISM FORTOILET TANKS Filed April 8, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 QI35 a g JUL/HN LMAsONGLENN L. M hnas Zmventors Gttbrneg Feb. 13,1940. J. L. MASON ET AL2,190,160

FLUSHING MECHANISM FOR TOILET TANKS Filed April 8, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet?54 Q 3 57 g 52 S 44 43 Q 46 47 45 I 26 Q m 9 JUL/RN L. MASON (IttomegPatented Feb. 13, 1940 FLUSH'ING MECHANISM FOR TOILET TANKS Julian L.Mason and Glenn L. McNabb,

. Gastonia, N. C.

' Application April 8, 1939, Serial No. 268,783

4 Claims. (01. 4-57)' This invention relates to a flushing mechanism forwater closets. More specifically it relates to an improved trippingmeans for the tank ball, which will insure proper setting of theflushing valve or tank ball and thus eliminate water leakage due tosticking of the tank ball occurring after a flushing operation.Heretofore, many types of tripping mechanisms have been employed thestructure of which has been such that the moving parts, will becomefrictionally engaged with the stationary supporting member and therebyprevent the flushingvalve from becoming properly closed. This occasionsmuch loss in water and much annoyance due to the cause or necessity ofhaving to frequently reposition the parts in the apparatus.

" It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a trippingmechanism for a valve or tank ball in a water closet, comprising anoperating shaft rotatably mounted inthe sidewall of the tank and afiexible connection, unsupported throughout its length," disposedbetween said shaft and said valve whereby the valve can be.

operated from the shaft with a minimum fric tional resistance. r l

It is a further object of this invention to provide a tripping mechanismof the class described with a handle on the outer end of an operatingshaft which may be rotated in either direction to trip the valve, withmeans associated therewith for limiting the amount of rotation which isimparted to said shaft. This limiting means prevents the shaft frommaking a complete revolution which, if done, would cause the flexibleconnection to hang and prevent thevalve from becoming properly seatedafter flushing.

The present invention comprises a simple and efficient method offlushing water closets. It is inexpensive to manufacture, easy tooperate and very efiicient in operation, all of which constitutedesirable features in the apparatus.

Some of the objects of the invention having I Figure 2 is a verticalsectional view taken along the line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an isometric view of the invention apart from the watercloset.

Referring more specifically to the drawings,

the numeral l0 denotes a conventional toilet tank having an intake pipell, said intake pipe penethereto as at Ma conventional seat35 and acover 36. r

'trating its bottom and which has secured to the upper end thereof anintake valve l2. Pivoted to this valve as atlt is an arm l5 whichextends upwardly and laterally Within the tank, and has on. its free enda suitable hollow float. ball l6. "5

The lever l5 has pivoted intermediate its ends as at H, a valve pistonl8, which is raised and lowered, depending upon the level of the waterl9. Of course when the water level falls the ball it will likewise fall,whichyin turn, will move the piston is downwardly to allow water to nowintothe tank. The above parts are conventional.

Disposed in the bottom of the tank Ill is a, discharge conduit 25havinga valve seatlifi integral with the upper end thereof. This conduitpenetrates the bottom of the tank and issecured thereto bymeans of asuitable nut 21 threadably secured on the lower end thereof. Washers 29and 30 are placed below and above the bottom of the tank to insurethatthe connection at this point will be water tight: The lower endof theconduit 25 is secured to another conduit 32which empties into a bowl 33,said bowl having pivoted The conduit 25 has a leading from the upperside thereof, a passageway iwwhich communi-- cates with the lower end ofoverflow pipe 39.

Also disposed around the conduit, directly be; neath the valve seat 25and above the washer 30, is an annular ring member 40, having integraltherewith an L-shaped arm Al, the upper end of which has pivoted as at42, the intermediate'portion of a lever 43. The right-hand end of thislever has adjustably secured in the end thereof, 35

a screw it and the lower end of this screw is threadedly securedin theupper end of a tank ball 45. In order to lock the screw in fixedposition relative to the lever 43, a lock nut 46 is provided. Likewise alock nut 4'! is provided to lock the tank ball in fixed positionrelative to the (screw 64. This tank ball hasan inverted frustroyconical portion on the lower side thereof, which is adapted to fit uponthe valve seat 26 and prevent the water from escaping downwardly throughconduit 25 and into bowl 33. Y It will also be'noted that the lever 43extends a substantial distance to the left of pivot point 42 inFigures 1and 3. The purpose of providing this extension is to counterbalance, theweight of the tank ball 45. Also it will be noted by referring to thesesame figures,that the lever 4-3 is mountedin a suitable slot Na in arm4|. The depth of this slot is such that the bottom thereof will act as astop and prevent farther counter- 55 EM OFFICE" T I clockwise rotationof the lever 43 when it is ro- 'tated to dotted line position as shownin Figure 1.

' the upper endof link 52 penetrates a hole 53 in the lower end of adownwardly extending lever 54. Lever 54 is adapted to be fixed securedon a shaft 55 by any suitable means such as a cot- Shaft 55 extends tothe exteriorof the tank and has an operating handle 51 fixed ter pin 56.

thereon which handle may be oscillated either in a clockwise or acounterclockwise manner in Fig-v ure 1, when it is desired to flush thetank [0.

piece.

The parts are shown in dotted line position in Figure 1, when thetripping mechanism has been operated.

Shaft 55 'is rotatably mounted in a suitable bushing 60, said bushingbeing mounted in the sidewall of .the tank. This bushing has anenlarged' head on the exterior of the tank and a threaded portion on theinterior, which threaded portion has secured thereon a nut 6|. The tankI is covered by a suitable cap 63.

By providing a simple tripping mechanism as shown, it is possible toflush the tank with the greatest of ease, and without any likelihood ofthe parts becoming hung. Also by providing the lock nuts 46 and 41, thetank ball 45 can be properly adjusted relative to the lever 43 and seat26 to insure that the proper seating will be effected.

The arm 4l may be cast integrally with member 25 if desired, instead ofits being a separate In the drawings and specification, there has beenset forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specificterms have been employed, they are used in a generic and descriptivesense only and not for the purposes of limitation, the scope oftheinvention being set forth in the appended claims.

We claim: r

1. In a tank for water closets provided with a verticallydisposeddischarge pipe penetrating the bottom of the tank and having an openupper end adapted to receive a tank ball for normally closing the openupper end of the discharge pipe, a rigid stem connected to the uppersurface ofthe tank ball, a lever rigidly connected at one end to theupper end of the rigid stem, a member projecting horizontally and thenupwardly from said pipe, a pivotal connection between an intermediateportion of the lever and the upper end of the member projecting fromsaid pipe, an operating handle disposed on the exterior of the sidewallof the tank and having a shaft rotatably penetrating the sidewall of thetank, a second lever rigidly mounted on the inner end of the shaft, anda flexible connection between the two levers.

2. In a water closet tank having a vertically disposed discharge pipepenetrating the bottom of the tank and having an open upper endadapted'to receive a tank ball for closing the same, a

stern rigidly secured to the tank ball and extending upwardly, a memberassociated with said pipe and'extending horizontally and then upwardlyin the tank, a lever pivotally connected intermediate its ends to theupper end of the member, a rigid connection between the lever and thestem, an operating shaft penetrating the sidewall of the tank, and aflexible connection between the shaft and the lever member for raisingthe tank ball from its seat.

3. Tank ball supporting and operating means for water closets,comprising a member having one end rigidly connected to the tank ball,means for pivotally mounting the member substantially at its center ofgravity, operating means extending from the exterior of the tank to theinterior thereof, and a flexible connection between the operating meansand the end of the member connected to the tank ball.

l, In a water closet having a tank provided with a vertically disposeddischarge pipe opening into and through the bottom of the tank, anannular member surrounding the pipe and a nut threadably mounted on thepipe for securing the pipe in position and holding said annular memberin position, said annular member having a horizontal portion andupwardly projecting portion, said armbeing forked at its upper end, anelongated member pivotally mounted intermediate its ends in said fork ata point which is substantially the center of gravity of said pivotedmember, means for rigidly supporting a tank ball on one end 1 of thepivoted member for normally closing the upper end of the pipe, anoperating shaft penetrating the sidewall of the tank and having a crankon its inner end, a jointed connection between said crank and saidpivoted memberwhereby rotation of said shaft will raise the end of thepivoted member to which the tank ball is attached to allow the contentsof the tank to discharge through said pipe, whereupon the tank ball willbe guided by said pivoted member into the open upper end of said pipe.

JULIAN L. MASON. GLENN L. McNABB.

